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Next Launch: 05/13/08
Sojus U with "Progress M-64" (from Baikonur)
Time: --:-- a.m. EDT --:-- MEZ
Webcast:
05/13/08 Zenit 3SL with "Galaxy 18" (from Odysse Seeplattform)
05/15/08 Rockot KM with "GOCE" (from Plessezk LC-133)
05/16/08 Delta II 7920-H-10L with "GLAST" (from CC SLC_17B)
05/22/08 Kosmos 3M with 6 Satellites "Orbcomm" (from Kapustin Yar)
05/23/08 Ariane 5/ECA with "Skynet 5C und Turksat 3A" (from Kourou ELA 3)
06/15/08 Delta II with "Jason 2" (from Vandenberg SLC-2W)
07/15/08 Pegasus with "IBEX" (from Kwajalein/Omelek Island)
07/25/08 Delta IV-Heavy with "NROL-26" (from CC)
06/--/08 Falcon 1 with "TacSat / Celestis 05" (from Kwajalein/Omelek Island)
--/--/08 Delta II with "STSS Block 2010" (from Vandenberg AFB)
--/--/08 Dnepr-1 with "THEOS" (from Dombarovskij)
--/--/08 Rockot with "Gonets M and Yebeleiny" (from Plessezk / 133)
Zenith-3SLB (Firstflight / Land Launch) with Satellite AMOS III 04/28/08
Buran is coming!!!
"epa01302633 The Russian spaceshuttle Buran arrives in Rotterdam, 02 April 2008 on its way from Bahrain to Germany.
On sunday the shuttle goes to Mannheim, this time by pontoon acrross the river Rhine. The Buran (Russian for snowstorm) is 36m long, 24m wide and 16m high and weighs 61 ton. EPA/VALERIE KUYPERS"
Arianespace is the leading global commercial launch services provider offering a family of vehicles able to launch any mass to any orbit. Created in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company, Arianespace has signed contracts for the launch of more than 250 satellite payloads. Arianespace is a member of the innovative Launch Services Alliance with Boeing Launch Services and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that provides true mission assurance to satellite operators around the globe.
Ariane 5's first test flight (Ariane 5 Flight 501) on 4 June 1996 failed, with the rocket self-destructing 37 seconds after launch because of a malfunction in the control software, which was arguably one of the most expensive computer bugs in history.
A data conversion from 64-bit floating point to 16-bit signed integer value had caused a processor trap (operand error). The floating point number had a value too large to be represented by a 16-bit signed integer. Efficiency considerations had led to the disabling of the software handler (in Ada code) for this trap, although other conversions of comparable variables in the code remained protected.
The second test flight, L502 on 30 October 1997 was a partial failure. The Vulcain nozzle caused a roll problem, leading to premature shutdown of the core stage. The upper stage operated successfully but could not reach the intended orbit.
A subsequent test flight on 21 October 1998 proved successful and the first commercial launch occurred on 10 December 1999 with the launch of the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory satellite.
Another partial failure occurred on 12 July 2001, with the delivery of two satellites into an incorrect orbit, at only half the height of the intended GTO. The ESA Artemis telecommunications satellite was able to reach its intended orbit on 31 January 2003, through the use of its experimental ion propulsion system.
The next launch did not occur until 1 March 2002, when the Envisat environmental satellite successfully reached an orbit 800 km above the Earth in the 11th launch. At 8111 kg, it was the heaviest single payload to date.
The first launch of the ECA variant on 11 December 2002 ended in failure when a main booster problem caused the rocket to veer off-course, forcing its self-destruction three minutes into the flight. Its payload of two communications satellites (Stentor and Hot Bird 7), valued at about EUR 630 million, was lost in the ocean. The fault was determined to have been caused by a leak in coolant pipes allowing the nozzle to overheat.
After this failure, Arianespace SA delayed the expected January 2003 launch for the Rosetta mission to 26 February 2004, but this was again delayed to early March 2004 due to a minor fault in the foam that protects the cryogenic tanks on the Ariane 5.
On 27 September 2003 the last Ariane 5 G boosted three satellites (including the first European lunar probe, SMART-1), in Flight 162. On 18 July 2004 an Ariane 5 G+ boosted what was at the time the heaviest telecommunication satellite ever, Anik F2, weighing almost 6,000 kg.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin announced their intent to form the United Launch Alliance joint venture on May 2, 2005. The joint venture merges the production of both of their government space launch services into one central plant in Decatur, Alabama and all engineering into another central plant in Littleton, Colorado.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Delta IV and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Atlas V are both launchers developed for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program intended to provide the United States government with competitively priced private spaceflight and assured access to space.
The Delta family of rockets is used in an expendable launch system that has provided space launch capability for the United States since 1960.
Delta has a history of over 300 launches, with a 95% success rate. Of the many types of Delta rockets that have been used, two -- the Delta II and the Delta IV -- are currently scheduled for future space launches.
Manufacture and launch of Delta rockets are currently provided by the United Launch Alliance.
International Launch Services is the U.S.-Russian joint venture with exclusive rights for worldwide commercial sales and mission management of satellite launches on Russia's premier vehicle, the Proton.
ILS is an American company, headquartered in McLean, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. The joint venture partners are Space Transport Inc., a privately held corporation based in the British Virgin Islands, and Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia of Moscow.
The Proton vehicle launches both commercial ILS missions and Russian government payloads from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is operated by the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) under lease from the Republic of Kazakhstan.